BRITISH GOVERNMENT RECOGNIZES STATIN SIDE EFFECTS

Daily Mail, UK - New health warnings are to be issued over popular cholesterol-lowering drugs after evidence that thousands of users suffer side effects such as depression and sexual problems.

More than six million adults who are prescribed statins by their GPs will be told about five new ' undesirable effects' in leaflets issued with packets of the drugs.

These are sleep disturbances, memory loss, sexual dysfunction, depression and a rare lung disease that can kill if left untreated. . .

The MHRA signalled the need for updated warnings in February last year but disagreements about the wording have held up the changes. . .

A review of studies by the MHRA in February 2008 concluded there was enough evidence from clinical trials and patient reports to identify the new problems as a 'class effect'.

This means all statins may trigger the problems.

It found up to 12 per cent of patients taking part in one clinical trial suffered sleep disturbances such as insomnia, while 11 per cent of users in the same trial had depression and three per cent some level of memory loss.

Another study suggested 12 per cent of statin patients had erectile dysfunction.